New York AG launches probe into Trump's Jon Bon Jovi-smearing, failed bid to buy Buffalo Bills football team

New York’s top prosecutor has opened an investigation into whether President Trump broke the law while trying to bankroll his failed bid to buy the Buffalo Bills — a contentious deal that featured a short-lived smear campaign against Jon Bon Jovi.

Two people familiar with the matter, who were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity, told the Daily News on Tuesday that Attorney General Letitia James issued a subpoena late Monday night to Deutsche Bank for any records relating to Trump’s attempt to buy the National Football League team in 2014.

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One of the sources said the subpoena came in response to ex-Trump attorney Michael Cohen’s sworn testimony before Congress last month that the President exaggerated his wealth in statements submitted to Deutsche Bank in order to more easily secure loans for the Bills offer. Cohen charged that Trump’s wealth inflation amounted to bank fraud.

In addition to the unsuccessful Bills deal, the sources said James issued subpoenas to Deutsche Bank and New Jersey-based Investors Bank in response to Cohen’s similar allegations about possible wrongdoing relating to financing for the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C., the Trump International Hotel and Tower in Chicago, the Trump National Doral near Miami and Trump Park Avenue in Midtown.

Deutsche Bank said it’s complying with James’s request while an Investors Bank representative did not respond to emailed questions. The AG’s office declined to comment on the subpoenas, which were first reported by The New York Times.

Trump ended up losing the bid to buy the Bills to natural gas billionaire Terry Pegula, who offered about $1.4 billion for the upstate New York team. The soon-to-be President had offered $1 billion, a person close to Trump said Tuesday.

But prior to Pegula locking in the deal, Trump orchestrated a vicious character assassination of New Jersey rocker Bon Jovi, who was also bidding on the football team.

Michael Caputo — the longtime Republican operative who would go on to run communications for Trump’s 2016 campaign — spearheaded the mudslinging effort, which attempted to discredit Bon Jovi as a traitor after it was speculated that the “Livin’ on a Prayer” singer was trying to relocate the Bills to Toronto.

One of Caputo’s most prominent stunts was establishing “Bon Jovi-Free Zones” at bars and restaurants around the city — jeering that was covered by national media outlets. The group also propagated a boycott of all things Bon Jovi.

But Trump’s involvement in the “12th Man Thunder” show was short-lived.

Caputo told The News on Tuesday that he had to end the public relations stunt on Trump’s behalf after the soon-to-be President made a formal offer on the Bills and signed a non-disclosure agreement pledging to not speak publicly about the other bidders.

“Within a week of announcing his interest, my role was eliminated,” Caputo said.

A spokesman for the Trump Organization did not return a request for comment, nor did a representative for Bon Jovi.

Regardless of Trump’s exit, the anti-Bon Jovi stunt appeared at least tangentially effective, since Pegula ended up winning the Bills bid.

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President Trump took aim at Gov. Cuomo after the AG subpoenas were widely reported Tuesday and tied them to the “witch hunt” he claims special counsel Robert Mueller and congressional investigators are conducting.

“New York State and its Governor, Andrew Cuomo, are now proud members of the group of PRESIDENTIAL HARASSERS,” the Queens-born President tweeted. “No wonder people are fleeing the State in record numbers. The Witch Hunt continues!”

“Instead of prosecuting crimes, they’ve identified someone they want to investigate until they find a crime,” Caputo said. “If this is the way that the New York attorney general wants to conduct her business, it’s very clear that the real criminals will run amok.”

Upon her election in November, James pledged to scrutinize every aspect of Trump’s business dealings.

“We are not scared of you,” James said in her victory speech. “And as the next attorney general of his home state, I will be shining a bright light into every dark corner of his real estate dealings, and every dealing, demanding truthfulness at every turn.”